Jaune's Tie
by The Weakest Of Links
Summary: Jaune asks Pyrrha to fix his tie.


"Pyrrha?"

I sigh quietly to myself, but force a small smile. This is for Jaune. This will make him happy. I should be happy for him.

"Yes, Jaune?"

"Could you help me with this thing?" he asks embarrassedly, pointing at the undone necktie hanging loosely around his collar. "I'd look up how to do it, but my scroll's dead."

My smile becomes just a little less forced.

"Is it wise to ask a girl for help with a necktie?" I ask. Maybe some humor can lift this mood of mine.

"Oh. I just figured you knew how to tie one."

Annnd there he goes, pushing me out with something like that. This boy has no tact, I swear.

"Why?"

"I really can't think of anything you can't do."

And there he goes, drawing me back in. Damn him. Damn him and his horribly cute obliviousness.

"…Oh."

Do I sound shy? Surprised, Pyrrha, sound surprised! Not shy!

"Besides, Ren won't be back until late, and I told Weiss I'd pick her up at ten," Jaune continues, fumbling with his tie before giving up entirely.

"And by pick her up, you mean knock on Team RWBY's door and ask for her?" Another attempt at humor. He's better at this than I am.

"Hey, I gotta look big picture, and not sweat the small things," he says confidently. "Big picture as in Weiss Schnee said yes. Small things as in my lack of a car."

If he keeps this up, I might almost forget that he's about to go on a date with Weiss. But I highly doubt that.

"And the tie?"

"If I said it was part of the big picture, would you help me with it?"

I roll my eyes before walking over to him and grasping onto the ends of his tie.

Huh. Black on white. Classy.

"All these years, and you still don't know how to tie one of these…" I mumble almost unconsciously. Wait, did I say that out loud? He might think I'm…

"Yeah, ha ha, very funny."

…insulting him. I really need to work on his self-confidence and social paranoia. Not sure how to fit that into training though...

"Oh, no, I wasn't trying to make fun of you," I attempt to recover. "I'm just surprised, is all."

He smiles a bit. I can't see it, as I'm trying to remember how to tie this thing…longer on the wide side, fold over…in any case, I can feel his smile. His happiness is a radiant thing, I swear.

Although it could just be that we're awfully close. Focus on the tie, Pyrrha. Focus.

"There's a whole lot I don't know how to do. Fight Grimm, stay awake in class, pick up girls…though maybe I can cross that last one off the list." He pauses for a moment.

I barely notice the pause. I'm too caught up on what he said, but don't let it get to me. I'm…I'm sure everything will be fine.

"And, um…kiss," he finishes.

What? Oh, great, the knot is all tangled now. I start over…what was that about kissing?

"Pardon?"

"Probably could have brought that up smoother…" Jaune says nervously in a quiet voice, scratching the back of his head. "But, uh, yeah. I don't know how to kiss. And if tonight goes well…I-I just want to be prepared. Annnnd I was _kind_ of hoping that you'd have some pointers? Maybe? Please?"

…

"I…I really wouldn't know. I've never kissed anybody."

"Um…sure, Pyrrha, but if this is too awkward for you to talk about, I'd get it. I mean, it's almost too awkward for me anyways. Forget I said anything."

I swear, this boy…

"I'm not kidding, Jaune."

Please let that be the end of this conversation.

"But…what? How is that even possible?"

I'm…I'm sure that was far more offensive than he intended.

"I don't know how to respond to that," I say honestly, tightly constrained anger in my voice.

"N-No, that's not what I meant!

Of course it wasn't, Jaune. You never say what you mean.

"I'd never…jeez, Pyrrha, I just don't get it. I mean…you're…"

Yes, yes, we've been through this before. You're Pyrrha Nikos. You have unmatched athletic ability. You've won the Mistral tournament four consecutive times. You were on a cereal box.

"… _ridiculously_ hot."

…What.

 _What._

"Awfully sorry, Jaune, but I believe I misheard you. I just imagined that you said something completely…I-I don't even know what-"

"I said that you are ridiculously hot."

 _He said it again! He's just saying it like it's a fact! What is happening?!_

"O-Oh. Um…I…me?"

"Yeah. That sentence had the word 'you' in it. Look, I'm not gonna push the subject. You clearly don't want to talk about it. I guess I'll just have to get a feel for it myself."

What just happened? Where am I? What am I doing? I'm hot? Ridiculously so? Jaune thinks this? He…he-

"Um…Pyrrha? You okay? You're sort of choking me."

I snap out of it and loosen his tie.

"Y-Yeah, just, um…feeling a bit lightheaded."

I back up from him, having finally finished with his tie.

"You want me to get you some water or something? I probably have some time to…"

He looks up at the clock.

"Oh man, I'm gonna be late!" He rushes to the door before turning around to say one last thing. "Hey, thanks for talking. And the tie and everything. I'll make it up to you."

Don't do it Pyrrha. Don't do it. You'll make it weird.

"Jaune?"

No, don't stop him at the door. Stop walking up to him. Pyrrha, this is your brain talking! Do you hear me?!

"Yeah?"

"With Weiss…maybe just, um…don't scare her away. Start small."

He has that adorably confused look on his face. I really shouldn't…

"Start small how?"

…Okay, maybe just one on his cheek.


End file.
